In recent years, studies on a technique known as μ-TAS (Micro Total Analysis Systems) or Lab-on-a-Chip, in which chemical operations or physiochemical operations are integrated onto a substrate of a few square centimeters, has rapidly prevailed.
However, in such techniques, integration on a microscopic substrate, or chip, is not easy. Unlike DNA chips, wherein probes for the detection of biomolecules are immobilized, for μ-TAS or Lab-on-a-Chip, high degree integration of minute channels (microchannels) for handling liquid samples is difficult, and thus, serializing operations of complex chemical processes is not easy.
Under these conditions, the present inventors have explored the integration of complex chemical processes by combining various Unit Chemical Operations, and have previously made several proposals. In such explorations, the present inventors have made it an object to enable the handling of multilayer flow, as highly controlled fluid, within a microchannel, and to integrate such multilayer flow onto a microchip.
Hence, in consideration of the aforementioned background, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly integrated structure of multilayer flow microchannel, which enables the efficient performance of high-accuracy microanalysis, precise chemical synthesis or the like by continuous operation of a plurality of unit operations on a microchip. Further, another object of the present invention is to provide an operation method that utilizes this structure.